Unexpected Developments
by SyaRaven
Summary: Kate goes to Lanie for some tests, and some advice. What happens when Castle interrupts?
1. Chapter 1

Lanie Parish entered her morgue so engrossed in the autopsy file that she failed to see her best friend occupying her seat, until she almost sat on top of her.

"Lanie! I'm sitting here, you know." commented Kate Beckett as she used her feet to propel the chair backwards, and out of Lanie's reach.

"Kate, I'm sorry! This case is driving me crazy, I've gone over this file a dozen times and I still have no idea what happened." The M.E. Tossed the file down on her desk, before turning to face her friend.

"Have you come to alleviate my frustration? Or you got something else on your mind?" The blood rushed to Kate's face, even though she'd wanted to talk to her friend, now that it was about to happen she wasn't so sure.

"Err – I do have something to talk about.." When she didn't keep talking, Lanie pushed her for more information.

"Well, girl? What's going on?" Kate slowly pushed the chair back towards its rightful place in front of Lanie's desk, stalling for time. Sighing, she stood up, crossing her arms, and leaned up against the autopsy table.

"Its about Castle." Before the second syllable of his name was out of her mouth, Kate was faced with an almost squealing Lanie.

"Did you two do the nasty? Gimme details, darling!" The detective hopped up so she was sitting on the table, gesturing for her friend to take a seat in the chair.

"Look, Lanie, this is private, okay? That means don't tell the boys, or even Castle. You understand?" For the first time since entering the morgue, Lanie took a good look at her friend and could see Kate's nervousness written all over her face.

"Sure thing, girl. Just tell me the details, all of 'em." Reassured by Lanie's promise, Kate forced the words out of her mouth.

"Yes, we did sleep together. It happened a while ago, and a few times since." Before she could get very far, however, Lanie interrupted her.

"Wait! You didn't tell me? I thought you were coming in here to tell me that you two had finally hooked up, not that you hooked up 'a while ago' and you didn't tell me!" Kate cringed at her friend's outburst. She'd meant to tell her, really, there just hadn't been a good time.

"I know, I'm sorry, Lanie. I was going to.. But we wanted to keep it quiet for a bit, while we got things figured out, y'know..." Hearing the sadness in Kate's voice, Lanie instantly regretted yelling.

"Alright, it's all good. Just tell me what you wanted to tell me."

"Well, we've been getting kind of serious, but we haven't talked about anything. And I don't really know where we stand, so I don't know how to talk to him. I don't want to make things awkward between us, but I really need to talk to him, and I just don't know how." The sentence rushed out of Kate in one long breath, trailing off at the end as she ran out of oxygen.

"Woah, woah, woah, girl. Hang out. What do you need to talk to him about?" Concern was etched across Lanie's face, there were very few times that Kate Beckett babbled, and all of them were about something important.

"I'm pregnant, Lanie." The words tumbled out of Kate's mouth, slowly and gently. Silence fell over the room, and the shocked doctor tried to comprehend the words.

"Wha- what?"She managed to choke out after a while. "Are you sure?"

"I took three tests. All of them were positive. But, could you do a test here to be sure?" Jumping off the chair, Lanie bustled around the room, getting the supplies for the test. After getting blood and urine samples for the tests, the two friends sat down to continue their conversation.

"Weren't you careful, hun? I know you paid attention to all the sex-ed lessons in school." Getting scolded wasn't in her plans for the day, but Kate knew that she deserved it.

"It was a heat of the moment thing. We'd just finished up with one grueling case and one thing led to another. It just happened, it was an accident." The pressure of waiting for the test was beginning to affect her, and Kate found herself pacing around the morgue room.

"Are you sure it's his?" Lanie barely had time to get the words out of her mouth before Kate was spinning around and glaring at her.

"Of course I'm sure! He was the only person I've been with in months, you know that, Lanie." She, however couldn't stay angry at her friend, she knew it was something that needed to be asked.

"No, I don't know, girl. You were keeping him a secret from me, who knows who else you were keeping a secret as well?"

"You're right, Lanie, I'm sorry. I just didn't want to face it until we'd figured out what we are. But I can't wait anymore. I need to talk to him." The timer dinged, causing both women to rush towards the computer, looking for the results.

"Sweetie, they're both positive. You are most definitely pregnant." Kate felt Lanie's arms wrap around her, supporting her as faltered. They sat down on the floor, leaning up against the desk. "What are you going to do. I'm here for you, always."

"I don't know, Lanie. What am I supposed to do?" Tears began to fall down her cheeks, the emotional day was taking a toll on her.

"You need to talk to Castle, you have to tell him about this." Kate let her head drop to her knees, hiding her face from Lanie.

"He's going to want to marry me. You know what happened with him and Meredith when she got pregnant with Alexis. I don't want that" An astonished expression filled Lanie's face.

"You mean that after this almost love affair that's been going on between the two of you for the past four years you don't love the man enough to marry him?"

"No, I do. But some day years from now, not now, not out of responsibility."

"You need to talk to him about this, girl, he has a right to be a part of this decision." One thing can be said for Richard Castle, he tends to have the worst timing. This moment only furthered that streak as he opened the doors to the morgue, looking for his partner, and interrupting their conversation.

"Beckett? Lanie? Anyone here?" The two women chuckled as they realized that they were sitting on the floor of the morgue room, conveniently hidden from Castle. Beckett took a moment to compose her face before standing up, and dragging Lanie upright with her.

"Hey, Castle." Lanie took the brief pause as an opportunity to grab the file that she'd previously thrown on her desk, and leave the room. She turned around right before pushing through the doors, just in time to catch the glare Kate shot her way for leaving her alone with Castle.

"Hey, Rick." He could sense a difference in her. The past few days she'd been more distant, but today she was back to being the Kate that he'd seen since the first time that they slept together.

"Hey, Kate. What's up? Why are you hiding on the floor in the morgue on your lunch break?" He asked gently, not wanting to scare away the Kate that was making an appearance today.

"We need to talk." Those are the words that strike fear in everyone's heart, anyone who has ever been in a relationship. Kate saw the color drain out of his face, and realized that perhaps her choice of words were unfortunate. "Rick, its not what you think, I promise. Please, just sit down."

He followed her instructions, sitting in Lanie's chair, waiting for her to prove the wild theories running through his head wrong.

"Rick, there really isn't a tactful way to say this, or even a gentle way. So, I'm just going to say it, okay?" She didn't give him time to answer before she plowed forward. "I'm pregnant, Rick. The baby is yours.

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_A/N: I'm still working on my other story, but I haven't gotten much response on it, so I ended up starting this!_

_Please review!_

**Sya**


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: This story got a lot of story Alerts, but not many reviews, so I'm guessing you like it but I don't know if I should be changing anything._

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in reality, only in my dreams.**_

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It was almost as if the room had frozen, as Rick Castle tried to process the news that Kate Beckett had just told him. His mouth dropped open, and he stared at her, trying to figure out what to say, but he was drawing a blank.

"How far along are you?" He asked timidly, once he was able to find his voice.

"A few weeks. Its from the first time we were together." Kate was having a more difficult time with the conversation then she could have imagined. She couldn't read his expression, and had no idea what he was thinking or what he was going to say next, a phenomenon that she wasn't used to.

"I – I don't know what to say." Seeing her face fall, he hurried to continue. "Kate, I'm happy, I really am. You know I love being a father, and this baby will only add to that. I'm just not sure what it means for us."

"You're not upset?" she asked, her voice cracking at the end, letting her vulnerability slip through.

"No, of course not. How could you think that? You know how much I love Alexis, how much I will love any child of mine. It was just a surprise, that's all." Feeling reassured a little by his response, she raised her head, finding herself lost in his cobalt eyes.

"Please, don't ask me to marry you." she pleaded, and saw immediately the pain she caused in his eyes.

"Do – do you not want me to be with you? Do you not want me in its life?" He choked out, he couldn't understand how she could tell him about the baby, and then tell him that she didn't want him to be a part of its life. His eyes began to fill with tears at the thought of not being allowed in his child's life.

"No, Rick, of course I want you in its life, of course I do." He perked up a little when he heard that. "And yes, I want to be with you. But I know how things worked out with Meredith, and I don't want that to happen with us. If we end up married in the future, that will be perfect in my book, but I don't want you to ask me now, not out of responsibility." Rick reached over and took hold of her wrist, using it as leverage to pull her closer. She ended up standing between his knees, with his head resting against her stomach.

"Hello, little one. I'm always going to be here for you, I promise." he whispered to his unborn child gently. He lifted her shirt, despite her protests, and left three small kisses on her stomach. "Kate, I'm not going to repeat what happened with Meredith here, but someday, I do want to marry you." Rick pulled her down so that she was sitting in her lap, and left a very gentle, fleeting kiss on her lips.

"And one day, Rick, I'll say yes to you. This baby will have a family. But we just started being together, I don't want to rush things." said Kate, pulling back from the kiss to rest her forehead on Rick's.

"Then we won't. We'll just take things as they go, we'll make the doctors appointments, tell our families, and the boys upstairs. And in between all of that, I'll take you out on dates and treat you like the gorgeous woman that you are." This time when they kissed, Rick could feel her smiling, and felt accomplished that he was the one that put it there. Kate was the one to pull back again, taking a much needed breath before whispering to her partner.

"We need to stop this, we're at work." To which Rick laughed and replied, "Why should that matter?" before leaning forward and taking her lower lip into his, nibbling it slightly before soothing it with his tongue. When she opened her mouth and moaned into his, he took advantage and let his tongue slip in to join hers.

"Well, looks like he took the news well, darlin'" exclaimed Lanie, walking in on the two partners making out in her chair. "And you were so worried." Rick and Kate leapt apart, ending with Kate almost falling off his lap.

"Lanie! Hi." gasped out Kate, once she had regained her place on Rick's lap. "Yes, he took it well."

"So, no proposals then?" As Kate shakes her head, Rick leans forward and whispers in her ear, "You told Lanie before you told me?"

"Of course she did, you idiot. Don't you think I can't hear you whispering from over here." responded Lanie, "Who did you think she was going to go to? Gates?"

"Lanie ran some extra tests for me, just so I could be sure." Feeling Rick nod into her neck, she relaxed, letting out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Now we just have to figure out how to tell everyone else."

"We don't have to tell them right away, not if you want to keep it quiet for a little. I know you didn't want everyone to know about us, not until we'd figured it out for ourselves." said Rick, he didn't want her to feel pressured into telling their friends about the baby.

"Well, I do believe that we just had our talk about what we are. That means we are free to tell the others. And, I don't think it would be wise to keep something like this from them. They're going to find out eventually." Kate giggled as Rick leaned forward to press another light kiss to her lips.

"You're right, we can't deny them the right of being overprotective Aunts and Uncles, now can we?"

"Well, you two can go ahead and tell anyone you want, just make sure that you explain to them that I call dibs on being the godmother, you understand me?" Before a second had passed, Kate was off Rick's lap, and squeezing her best friend in a hug.

"Lanie, we'd be _honored_ to have you as our child's godmother." she said before letting go of the other woman. "Rick, what is Alexis going to say?"

Seeing Kate's distraught face, he rushed forward and grabbed her hand, stroking his thumb across her knuckles. "Knowing her, she'll scold me for not being more careful, and repeating the past, and then she'll give you the biggest hug of your life and start planning all the sibling activities they will do."

"Now that you two got this all figure out, can you get the hell out of my office? I do have some work to do you know." quipped Lanie, but the others could see the grin on her face, and didn't take her to seriously.

"'Course, Lanie." Kate stepped in to give her friend another hug. "Thank you for all of your help today. Why don't you come over to my apartment tomorrow for dinner? We'll invite the guys and Alexis and Martha, and tell everyone there."

"Why don't we have it at the loft? There's more room, and Mother wouldn't have to worry about her hair getting messed up as we traveled from the loft to your place." asked Rick gently.

"Okay. That sounds good. We'll have to get some food if we're going to cook for all of these people."

"Alright, girl, you know I'll be there. I'll even act surprised with the rest of them when you tell us." She reached over and pat Kate on the arm, showing her support. "Now, please, get out of my morgue, before your lover-boy over there ends up on my table for distracting me from my work."

The two partners left the morgue, Rick with his arm around Kate's waist, holding her close to him as they made their way towards the elevators, and real life.

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_Please review!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I just realized that the chapter 3 I had up earlier is actually chapter 4, so I changed it! Sorry if there was any confusion. Here is the real chapter 3._

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The next evening, Rick and Kate got off work early to start making the dinner, Ryan and Espo had agreed to attend the dinner, and Castle had talked to Alexis and Martha already. The partners found themselves with the loft to themselves. Upon Alexis' request, she and Martha went out to do some shopping while the others cooked dinner.

"What's on the menu for tonight?" asked Kate, staring at the ingridients Rick had late out.

"I was thinking a ceasar salad to start, followed by pasta with alfredo or tomato sauce, and to go with that, homemade bread rolls, I made the dough last night." Rick gestured to each item on the counter as he explained them.

"That sounds good, how about some brownies for desert?" In response, he went around the kitchen getting the supplies for the brownies. Once they were out the two of them got to work. Without speaking, each of them took a task, while Rick was boiling the water for the pasta, Kate started slicing the tomatoes and cucumbers for the salad. Throughout the preparations for the meal, they danced around each other in the kitchen, occasionally brushing up against one another. That would lead to soft touches, and light kisses, before they turned back to their jobs.

By the time that the doorbell rang for the first time, signaling the arrival of their first guest, the brownies had just been put in the oven, and the pasta, rolls and salad had been put on the table. Rick headed over to answer the door, greeting Ryan and Esposito, while Kate finished setting the table. Lanie, Martha and Alexis weren't far behind, soon everyone was present, and enjoying the pre-dinner conversations.

"When do we get to eat the delicious meal that you two prepared for us?" asked Lanie, who had been barely containing her glee over the past day. She wanted everyone to know about the baby, and she wanted to be able to stuff food in her mouth to prevent herself from saying anything.

"Now, if you'd like." And with that the group sat down to eat. Kate look around the large table, and as she saw everyone catching up with one another she realized that this night could not have been more perfect. Those who were sitting with them were her family, the only people who needed to know about the pregnancy, and ones she could count on in her life. A happy smile graced her features for the duration of the dinner, one that only Castle noticed. Occasionally, under the table, the two of them would hold hands for no more than a few seconds, trying not to get caught.

The conversation avoided work, turning quickly to discussions of their plans for the holidays that were fast approaching. After the brownies had been served, Rick and Kate exchanged a glance, deciding together that now was the time to share their news with their family.

"Guys, we did have a reason for getting you all here tonight." began Rick, trying to get their attention without alarming anyone. It failed when each person at the table, with the exception of Kate and Lanie looked at them with varying degrees of worry on their faces.

"We have some news to share with you, you are all a part of our family and we thought you should know as soon as possible." As she spoke, Kate was watching her friends' expressions: Alexis looked as though she was preparing to hear that either one of them had cancer, or they were getting married. Ryan and Esposito looked as though they were trying to school their expressions into those of hardened cops, where nothing affected them, but they were failing miserably. Lanie was having a difficult time acting as though she didn't know what was coming, and Martha was looking at Rick with an expression that can only be described as 'again?'

"Well, –" began Rick for the second time, before breaking off to glance at Kate.

"I'm pregnant." finished Kate. At those words, all hell broke loose in the loft. Everyone shouted over each other, trying to get their words across.

"When did this happen?" asked Martha, with a knowing smile on her face. She alone of the visitors had surmised what they were going to say before they'd said it.

"Dad? How did you let it happen? Again?" inquired Alexis, staring at her father as though she didn't understand who he was anymore.

"What the -?" started both Ryan and Esposito, but they lost the ends of their sentences before they were out of their mouths.

"Kate! How could you not tell me?" Surprisingly, Lanie's voice came across as though she was genuinely startled by the declaration.

"Guys, guys, calm down." Rick hadn't expected them all to go as crazy as they did, and was having a hard time getting them under control. That is, until Kate let out a shrill whistle, causing everyone to stop talking at once.

"If you will let us, we'll explain." Everyone stared back at her expectantly. "It happened a few weeks ago, after the Sprynn case. Rick and I, we spent the night together. Yesterday, I went and got some tests done, and they came back positive. Rick and I are having a baby."

"Grams, she just called him 'Rick'" whispered Alexis to the woman sitting next to her, not so quietly.

"Have you decided what the two of you are going to do?" pressed Martha, hoping desperately that they weren't going to make the same mistake that Richard had made with his first wife almost 19 years before.

"We're going to raise the baby together, but we're not going to get married, at least not right away." answered Rick, knowing exactly what his mother was getting at. Feeling bold, Kate reached across the table and grabbed his hand, knowing that they wouldn't be hiding anything anymore.

"Castle, you listen to me. If you screw this up you will have to deal with me, and I won't be happy if you mess this up with Beckett, you hear me?" Ryan added 'uh huh's to everything that Esposito said.

"I'm not going to screw it up, I promise." Rick stated as he stared into Kate's eyes, oblivious of the glances that were going around the table.

"Have you set up the appointment for the baby yet?" Alexis' expression had changed and she had processed the fact that she was going to be getting a younger sibling, and she now had a smile on her face.

"Not yet. I'll look into that tomorrow. I wanted tell you guys as soon as Rick and I figured out what we were going to do." answered Kate, inside she was relieved that Alexis was taking the news better than Kate thought she would.

"I call being godmother!" called Lanie as soon as there was a lull in the conversation. Martha started, about to contradict the medical examiner.

"Mother, you will be the child's grandmother, you don't need to be godmother as well." And with that, Martha nodded, staying silent. Ryan and Esposito began to argue over which of them would have the honor of being the godfather, as the rest chuckled around them. The night ended on a quiet note, the wine was opened after dinner was finished, and the group retired to watch some tv in the living room.

After everyone else had left, Martha said goodnight, and headed to her room, leaving Rick with Kate and Alexis in the living room. Kate took off to use the bathroom, giving Alexis the opportunity to curl up with her father.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, pumpkin?"

"I was going to yell at you, like any responsible parent would, but I think I'm actually just happy for you, and for Kate." Alexis laid her head on her father's chest, relishing in the closeness between them.

"You know you can talk to me, if you want to?"

"Yeah, I know. Is Kate going to move in?" she asked quietly, not noticing that Kate had returned from the restroom.

"I don't think so, sweetie, at least not right now. We're just going to try to go forward with this like a normal relationship." Rick smiled down at his daughter, seeing Kate curl up at the other end of the couch, watching the pair of them. After Alexis had fallen asleep, and Rick had carried her upstairs to her room, he curled up with Kate on the couch. The turmoil of the day took its toll on the pair of them, and before long, the two partners, lovers and friends fell asleep in each others arms.

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_Please review! They make me happy!_

**Sya**


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who put this on story alert! I'm looking for a beta so if anyone is interested, let me know!_

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The first doctor's appointment snuck up on them, Castle and Beckett were knee-deep in suspects to interrogate, and unusual occurrence in their line of work, when Beckett's phone dinged, reminding her of an appointment.

"Castle!" she shouted across the office, after glancing at her phone and gasping. "Castle, come on! We gotta go, now." He ran to catch up with her, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair as he passed by.

"Where are we going? Beckett, we have a lot of work to do." Ryan and Esposito glared at their coworkers as they ran past, knowing that now they would have to deal with interviewing all of the possible suspects.

"We have the doctor's appointment today, Castle." Huffed out the detective once they were outside of the precinct. Castle leaned over to hail a cab, slapping himself on the forehead for having forgotten that such an important thing was happening that day.

"I'm sorry, Kate, I completely forgot." The two of them had agreed that they would continue to call each other by their last names and work, and first names outside of work when they were just two people who were dating, and having a baby.

"It's okay, Rick, I did too. Thank god I put it in my phone or we would have missed it." Suddenly, Rick started laughing, causing his girlfriend to stare at him incredulously.

"I'm just imagining the looks on the boys' faces right now, they have to deal with all of the interviews now." Kate let a small smile sit on her lips as she got into the taxi her partner had hailed.

"They're big boys, Rick, they can handle a few interviews while we go get our first glimpse of our child." Brown eyes found blue ones in the back of the cab, Rick reached out to grab her hand, sliding closer to her in the close confines of the car. They didn't say anything for the rest of the ride, instead, they held each other close, trying to get across a message of comfort without words.

"Rick, I'm nervous." admitted Kate as they climbed the stairs to the doctor's office. They were still holding hands, Kate had a vice-like grip on his fingers, refusing to let go.

"There's nothing to be nervous about, its just an ultrasound. They'll show us the baby, and figure out when it's due. You'll be okay, sweetie." he murmured into her ear as the entered the office. Before long they were in the exam room, being prepped by the nurse. As they went through all the mundane questions about health, and the warnings against smoking and drinking, Kate held on to Rick's hand, clenching it for support. Finally, the doctor came in to do the ultrasound.

Presently, they were watching their child wiggle around on the screen, it was tiny, but active. Rick looked down, squeezing her hand as he saw the tears in Kate's eyes. She watched, mesmerized, as her child danced around the screen. The doctor pointed out the different parts of it's body, and told them they would need to wait a few more weeks before she would be able to tell the gender. Kate looked up at Rick, and found him with tears in his eyes as well.

"I want to know, do you?" she asked, gently squeezing his hand when he didn't respond.

"Hmm?"  
"I want to know what gender it is, when we can." she expanded once she had his attention. "Do you want to know?"  
"Of course I do, I can't wait." He turned to the doctor who was sitting quietly at the desk, writing notes on the baby's health. "Can we get some pictures?"

"Sure thing, I'll print some off, it might take a little while to get some clear shots, you certainly have an active baby, Ms. Beckett." was the answer as the doctor worked the machine, trying to take clear pictures. After a few moments they heard the whir of the printer, and they had a few sheets of pictures in their hands, with the baby in a circle so they couldn't miss it.

"We should set up an appointment for two months from now, and at that appointment I'll be able to tell you what gender your child is. Now, I have here a list of some prenatal vitamins you should start taking, as well as a list of books that you might think about reading to prepare you for this pregnancy and for the birth." The two nodded along, taking the papers the doctor handed over. "Do either of you have any questions for me?"

"I don't think so.." answered Rick, looking at Kate. "Wait! When is the due date?"  
"Well, I'll have a better idea at the next appointment, but from what I can tell right now, you are about 10 weeks along, Kate, your due date will be May 13th." Rick leaned down, putting his free hand on Kate's stomach, rubbing it lightly.

"We're going to have a baby in May, Kate." he sighed contentedly. She nodded her head, placing her hand over his on her stomach.

"When you two are ready, the receptionist will be able to set up that next appointment for you. I'll see you in two months." said the doctor, heading out the door two give the two expectant parents some privacy.

"Rick, this is our baby." said Kate, gesturing at the pictures of the child that were still displayed on the monitor.

"I know, sweetie. I can't wait to meet it." he replied, leaning down to kiss her lightly on the lips.

Esposito and Ryan tried very hard to remain angry at their friends upon their return. But as soon as they relinquished the pictures of the child, the boys couldn't hold on to their anger.

"You could have at least told us where you were going." grumbled Ryan as he handed the sheet of ultrasounds to Esposito.

"We would have, but we were running late, we just didn't have time. We're sorry." pouted Castle. "Oh, look at this last one, it took the doctor forever to get that shot, the baby just kept moving around."

The only person in the precinct that wasn't amused by the photos of the baby that were being passed around was Gates.

"You should have cleared it with me before you left. Your actions left Detectives Ryan and Esposito with quite a lot of work to do by themselves." said the cross woman, glaring down at her detective and partner.

"No, it's okay, sir, we didn't mind at all." interrupted Esposito, contradicting his earlier statements.

"You got lucky this time, detective." said Gates to Beckett before turning on her heel and returning to her office.

"You know, Beckett, you two better get those pictures down to Lanie before she kills you for letting us see them before her." whispered Ryan, passing her back the photos. The two parents sprinted to the stairs, wanting to get down to the morgue as fast as possible, news travels fast, and neither was in the mood to get murdered that day. Luckily, they made it in time, and stayed with Lanie while she 'oooh'ed and 'ahhh'ed over the photos.

Lanie's reaction was very similar to the ones that Alexis and Martha had as the got the chance to see the same photos later that night. Kate had stayed over for dinner, something that had become more common for them over the past two weeks. The relationship between her and Rick was progressing, and she desperately hopped that the other two women in his life didn't object. She realized that she didn't need to worry when Alexis approached her later that night.

"Kate?" she asked quietly. The detective looked up from the book she was reading on the couch.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I wanted to ask you something," started Alexis, sitting down next to her. "I found this pattern online, and I was wondering if you'd help me make it." She held out a printed off page, depicting a pattern for a small quilt, one just the right size for a newborn baby.

"Of course I will." answered Kate, gasping a little out of surprise when Alexis suddenly reached out and hugged her. Grinning as she ran off upstairs to her room.

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_Again, my apologies, this is actually chapter 4. Also, someone told me earlier (when this was chapter 3) that my original timeline was wrong, as you can't see the baby's limbs and such at 6 weeks. I apologize for that as well, I mixed up the dates in my head when I was typing, she was supposed to be at 10 weeks. However to the comment that you can't know the gender until 16 weeks, or later, I'm going with my experience with pregnancy on that part. My friend found out her baby's gender at 13-14 weeks. Which would be about a month after Kate's first appointment. _

_Please review! It's how I know if you like it or not, if I should continue it or not._

**Sya**


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, or put this on story alert. Special thanks to arkem, who beta'd this!_ _All remaining mistakes are mine._

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the typos.**

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It didn't take long for the relationship between Rick and Kate to take the next step: spending the night. In the two months between the first appointment and the second, they spent almost every night together. After the first week the boys at the precinct stopped trying to hide their smirks as their friends walked in together in the mornings. The second week was the beginning of their 'honeymoon phase', nothing could go wrong between them. Somewhere in the third week it became habit for the two to end up back at the loft more often than at her place. Alexis became used to waking up to pancakes with different fresh fruits every morning. Kate let it slip one morning that she loved the breakfast food and every morning they spent together since, Rick got up to make them for her.  
It was the fourth week that would always stand out in Kate's mind because that was the week that she and Rick talked; the first time that they sat down to talk everything out, to discuss what they were and what they were going to be once the baby arrived.

Kate was having her usual breakfast, loving prepared by Rick, as always. She sipped at her fruit juice and chatted with Alexis as Rick finished up the last of the pancakes. She gulped, almost choking on her juice as Alexis made some off-hand comment about having the baby with them for breakfast and how they'd actually have to sit at the table for meals. She managed to hide her surprise, but the sentence had got her started on thinking about how she and Rick really hadn't made any plans for when the baby came.

"Alexis, if you'll excuse us, I need to thank the chef for this magnificent meal." anounced Kate, jumping down from her seat at the breakfast bar, dumping her dishes in the sink before dragging a protesting Rick away by his arm.

"Kate, I know you aren't dragging me back here to compliment me on the delicious meal I just prepared for you." said Rick, blowing through the excuse she'd used on Alexis as to why she was dragging her father away mid-breakfast. "What's up?"  
"I just want to talk. We haven't really discussed anything since I told you I was pregnant, and I think we should. We have the next appointment next week, and I want to walk in knowing what my life is going to be like." responded Kate, but she couldn't help adding, "Though I really did enjoy the blackberry pancakes," before leaning up to press a hard kiss to his mouth, reveling in the fact that she could taste the blackberries on his tongue.  
"Kate, Kate, if you want to talk, you're going to have to stop doing that," gasped Rick in between their forceful kisses. When she pulled back slightly, he manoeuvredthem around his desk, taking a seat in his office chair and pulling her on top of him. Kate reached for his hand, placing it gently over her slightly enlarged belly.  
"This is going to be serious, are you sure you can handle it?" asked Kate once the two were situated comfortably in the chair. Feeling him nod into the back of her neck, she smiled, turning slightly so she could press a kiss to his cheek. "Alright, here I go." Kate took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to do. "First, what are we, Rick?"  
"We are two people who have very deep feelings for each other and spend a lot of time with each other…especially at night." he grinned as he answered. "We can be whatever you want us to be, but right now, we're just two people who are dating."  
"Okay, I knew we were dating.. I just want to know, are we only together because of Baby?" asked Kate, dreading to hear the answer.  
"Kate, of course not. If we were, Baby wouldn't even be here." He soothed as his hand traced the developing curvature of her growing stomach. "We made Baby because we finally gave in to how we felt about each other. It's just an added bonus that we're going to have a child." Rick spoke quietly into her ear, trying desperately to convince her of his sincerity – it hurt him that she thought he might only be with her because of their child. He knew she was thinking about what had happened with Meredith and was just trying to get things straight. He knew that she believed him when she pressed another soft kiss into his cheek.  
"What are we going to do when the baby comes? Are we going to share custody, having Baby live in two different homes?" Kate knew that he could hear the uncertainty in her voice, she didn't know what she wanted his answer to be.  
"We can do that, if you want. But, Kate… I don't know if that's a good idea." Her heart dropped at those words. Was he saying that he didn't want to have custody of the child? He said he didn't want them to split custody… was he going back on what he said weeks ago about wanting to be in the child's life? "I know you don't want to get married just because of Baby, and I agree with you. But, maybe we should see if we can try to live together. Maybe a few months before the baby comes you could move in and we could try it." Kate let out a huge sigh relaxing back into his body as he continued to speak, assuaging her worries once more. "I think that would be best for the baby, and for us. That way we can be a family and it would be a natural progression of our relationship."  
"Lots of couples move in together." agreed Kate, leaning her head back onto his shoulder. "So we're going to move in together in a few months. Our baby will have a family." With those words, Rick instantly understood the full extent of the worries that must have been going through her head for the past few weeks. Both of them came from broken families, hell, he even had one right then. He had never known his father and Meredith could not really be considered a mother to Alexis. And then there was Kate's family, one that had been torn apart by the loss of her mother. She hadn't even told her father that she was dating Rick, much less that she was carrying his child. But he knew that she wanted a full family for their child and hearing the same wish coming from him set her at ease.  
"Will Alexis be okay with it?" she asked quietly, drawing him out of his silence and his thoughts.  
"I think she knows us better than we do." He knew she was looking at him in confusion, so he reminded her of what Alexis had asked the first night she knew she was going to get a younger sibling, _'is Kate going to move in?'_.  
"I forgot about that… Should we tell her and Martha now, or wait?" Kate chuckled at the memory, at Alexis' prediction.  
"Maybe we should wait until we've decided when you're going to move in."  
"Oh, hey! When did we decide that it was me moving in here? You could move into my apartment, there's a guest room we can turn into a nursery." She had finally caught on to the subtle words he'd said earlier.  
"Kate, do you really think Alexis and my mother would fit comfortably in your apartment as well?" Kate could feel him laughing underneath her at the thought of Martha trying to live in her much smaller apartment.  
"Good point. I suppose I can move in here. I guess it will do." she teased, hoping to get a reaction out of him. She succeeded.  
"You 'guess it will do'? Kate, Alexis and I had a great time in the loft! It's perfect for a kid, trust me, there are plenty of hiding places, it's great for laser tag, it's got a great TV and tables that are just the right height for coloring." It was her turn to laugh as he rattled off all the things he'd used to do – and some of them that he still did – with Alexis, "...and it's got some really great structure for building forts."  
"You know, Rick, it's going to be years before you can do some of that stuff with our child. Laser tag? Not until Baby is 5 years old, at least." pointed out Kate, drawing him out of his verbal memories.  
"Well, yeah. But that doesn't mean I can't do them with you and Alexis right now!" he countered, with a glint in his eye that she didn't miss. "Oh, Alexis!"  
"Yes, Dad?" shouted back his daughter in response.  
"You're going to be late for school today! We have to show Kate just how great this apartment is for forts and laser tag!" He stood up, picking Kate up as he did so, carrying her bridal-style out of his office only to plop her down on the couch.

"It's a good thing you picked a day I don't have any tests." sighed Alexis, but she didn't hide the smile on her face. She loved seeing her father and Kate together, she never thought she'd see Kate giggling as she was thrown onto the couch, but today she did.

The rest of the day was spent playing hooky from work and school, it was a good thing they didn't have a body that day. Not only did they cover laser tag and forts, they demonstrated just how great the loft was for hide and go seek, normal tag, obstacle courses, science and baking experiments (though not at the same time) and just how amazing it was for curling up together on the couch as a family at the end of the day to watch a movie together.

The fifth week was spent pushing through a horrific murder, with Kate realizing that she didn't want her child exposed to a world like this. The sixth week was one of the hardest, dealing with the fallout of not telling Jim Beckett about the pregnancy and having him hear through Lanie. The seventh was another devoted entirely to work, another difficult case and the week Gates discovered their secret.

The eighth week was the one that made the whole pregnancy real. It was the week that they decorated the spare bedroom, turning it into a nursery. It was the week that they found Alexis' old children's books in storage and set them out in the nursery. It was the week during which they spent every night curled up on the couch as a family, reading pregnancy and infancy books. It was the week that they filed the papers for Kate's maternity leave and the week they discovered just how excited Lanie was to be godmother when she started meeting up with Alexis and Martha to plan the baby shower.

It was the week they found out that their baby was a girl.

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_Please review! I usually write the next chapter before I post one, but I'm always open__ to suggestions. :] Let me know what you think!_

**Sya**


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and been following this story! Special thanks to my beta arkem._

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Alexis followed Kate and her father to their second ultrasound, hiding behind a plant in the waiting room until they were called by a nurse. She bounced around impatiently – something she had inherited from her father - waiting for them to return.

"Dad! Kate!" she shouted as soon as she saw them, startling both of the adults. "What is it? Is it a boy or a girl? Am I going to have a brother or a sister?"

"Alexis, sweetie, calm down." said Rick, "You're going to have a sister." The entire waiting room stopped to look at them when they heard the squeal Alexis let loose.

"Oh, my god. I'm so excited!" Shouted the teenager, squeezing herself in between her father and Kate, linking arms with both of them as they left the doctor's office. They took a cab to the Precinct together along with Alexis who gushed the entire ride about what she was going to do with her little sister and how many outfits she was going to make with Grams. She didn't mention anything about the quilt that she was working on with Kate – that was going to be a surprise for her dad.

"Alexis," started Castle as they pulled up in front of the office. "Please don't tell anyone about the baby being a girl, okay?"  
"But, Dad, they're all going to want to know! You can't hide it from them, they're police officers!" she retorted, not wanting to keep the information a secret.

"We know, sweetie, but we want to be able to tell them ourselves, when we're all together." answered Kate, trying to get the girl to agree.

"Fine, but I don't like it." huffed Alexis as she got out of the cab and headed down to the morgue to help Lanie.

"I didn't think she would," said Rick quietly as he helped Kate out of the car.

"I didn't think she would follow us to the doctors." said Kate, "And, Rick, please, I'm not an invalid, I'm barely even showing."

"I know, but I like to be chivalrous." was the last thing Rick said before he turned into Castle, the writer who worked with the NYPD.

Alexis Castle is a meddling girl. She had been routinely locking Grams out of the apartment to give her father and Kate some privacy over the past few weeks. She had been talking to the boys down at the Precinct to keep certain pieces of the cases a secret for a night or two so that Kate and her dad wouldn't end up staying too late, instead giving them the opportunity to go on dates and have some time together. Today's mission wasn't even difficult; all she had to do was call Ryan and tell him to order chinese for lunch and have him grab Esposito, Beckett and Castle when it was lunch time. Getting Lanie to go up and join them for the meal was even less difficult; she'd remembered that they'd had their second appointment that day and she wanted to know what sex the baby was.

Beckett and Castle were surprised when they were called into the break room by Esposito as they'd just been on their way to go grab some burgers or take out for lunch. They were even more surprised to find Lanie, Alexis _and_ chinese food in the break room.

"What's going on, guys?" questioned detective Beckett, wary of anything that might have gotten the four of them together.

"We just wanted to have a lunch all together." answered Esposito, with a line that had been fed to him a few hours earlier by none other than Alexis Castle.

"BS. Alexis?" inquired Castle, staring down at his daughter.

"Fine, I got them all here… but only because I'll be no good at keeping this secret." she replied, staring down at her carton of food instead of looking at her father. This time, she wasn't sure what his reaction was going to be to her meddling. The first time that he'd caught her shoving Grams out the door so he could have a quiet meal with Kate, he'd thanked her. The next few times he'd reminded her that Grams lived in the loft too and she couldn't kick her out indefinitely, to which Alexis had replied "I let her back in at midnight."

"Alright Alexis, why don't you tell them." Kate could tell that Alexis was almost bursting with the news and figured that it didn't really matter who told their friends, so she let Alexis do it. Kate reached over and grabbed Rick's hand, something they tried to avoid doing while they were at work.

"Their baby is a girl!" squealed out Alexis a few seconds later, unable to contain the news.

"Congratulations!" came the resounding reply. Alexis retrieved and broke out the little cake that she'd had Ryan pick up and hide for after their lunch.

That night when Kate got back to the loft, using the key that she'd received recently to let herself in, she found that the only person present was Alexis. The girl in question was running around the apartment in a rush, getting together pieces of what looked like pink and purple lace and tulle, piling it all on the counter. For a few moments, Kate stood transfixed in the doorway, watching the younger woman pelt around the large room like a chicken with her head cut off.

"Alexis? What are you doing?" Hearing Kate's words, Alexis froze where she was, with an armful of purple string in her hands.

"Um, nothing?" She didn't know why she said it, of course she was doing something, she'd just been caught red handed, or rather, purple handed.

"Alexis." said Kate in a warning tone. "What are you doing?"

"It was supposed to be a surprise." sighed Alexis, continuing her stride over to the counter. "Come sit and I'll explain." Kate acquiesced. "I was going to make some pillows and stuff for the baby, now that we know it's a girl."

Kate leaned over to give the smaller girl a one armed hug. "It's a great idea. But, Alexis, you know that you don't have to do this. The quilt we're working on is more than enough."

"I know, Kate. But this is really important to me." Alexis dropped her eyes down to the supplies on the counter in front of her, fiddling with the strings to keep her fingers occupied.

"Why is it so important, hun?" questioned Kate, she was beginning to realize that there was more going on here than just a girl excited about getting a little sister.

"Because this baby is really special, and I just want everything to be perfect for her."

"Why is she so special? I mean, I've been worried about you not wanting her around, she's going to disrupt your family. I'm disrupting your family." Alexis was shaking her head as soon as Kate started talking, she looked up with tears in her eyes, grabbing Kate's arm to stop her from talking.

"No, Kate, you're wrong. Dad, Grams and I, we've been a family forever. But not really, I think we've always been waiting for someone else. Meredith, Gina, those were people we thought we were waiting for, but they weren't... Kate, we've been waiting for you. This baby, she's the thing that's going to change everything. She's turning us into a real family, with not just Grams and Dad, but you and her too." The tears were falling down her cheeks, and Alexis wasn't making any move to wipe them away, so Kate reached over to do it. Kate led her over to the couch, sitting them both down and letting Alexis curl into her. She pulled the girl closer, letting her calm down, pressing a soft kiss into her hair.

"Alexis, this baby isn't what is going to make us a family. I have no doubt in my mind that this would still be happening even if I wasn't pregnant. I care about you a lot and I'm honored that you want me to be a part of your family. I will _always_ be here for you, but I want you to understand that I care about you because of you, not because of the baby." she whispered softly into Alexis' red hair, listening to her breathing hiccup and shudder as she tried to get herself under control.

"Can we do something together, just us?" Alexis asked, speaking into Kate's shirt, hoping for her to agree.

"Anytime you want, Alexis, I promise. Why don't we get cleaned up and then I'll take you out to dinner. We can do whatever you want after that." answered Kate, pulling Alexis upright so that she could look into her eyes as she promised to do anything for her. Fresh tears slid down Alexis' face, causing Kate to pull her tight against her once more. "I promise."

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_Please review! Let me know what you think. And to those who have been asking about Jim... I'm not a fan of him in the slightest so he won't be a prominent character in this. But he will have a part._

**Sya**


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Did you know that 99 people have this on story alert or favorite story? That makes me so happy! Special thanks to arkem who is my beta!_

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Kate Beckett made it her mission to spend as much time as possible with Alexis; she wanted the girl to be comfortable with her before she moved in. Every day Kate made sure to have some time to talk with her, one-on-one. If she had spent the night at the loft, Kate would take advantage of breakfast to talk with the younger woman, if not, then she would seek her out in the morgue. Alexis adjusted to the new routine immediately - she loved having Kate around to fill the hole that Meredith had left.

"Hey, sweetie." greeted Rick Castle, walking up to his daughter in the morgue room. "How's your day been?"

"Great and it's good to see you, Dad but I gotta run." Alexis hopped on tip toes to give her father a light kiss on his cheek before running out of the doors that had barely stopped swinging since Castle's arrival. He turned to see his girlfriend meeting his daughter and the two of them heading out of the Precinct, probably for another lunch that didn't include him. Dejectedly, he headed back towards the elevator, deciding to have lunch with the boys instead.

"Hey, guys. I figured I'd stick around to keep you two company, I know how boring lunch must be for you without Beckett and I." he quipped as he entered the conference room where the other detectives were munching on Thai food.

"Yeah, right. More like Beckett took off with your daughter again." laughed Esposito.

"Leaving you in the lurch once again." finished Ryan. Esposito motioned for Castle to take a seat at the table, the man acquiesced, throwing himself down in the chair with a huff. Castle couldn't help but think that it was much cuter when he and Beckett finished each others' sentences than when the guys did it.

"I like that they're spending time together, but does it have to be so much time? I miss my girls." he whined as he sat down. Esposito was beginning to regret his decision to let Castle join them when the man in question began to dish himself some of their food.

"Look, man. Beckett's joining your family soon, isn't she?" he asked, trying to distract Castle from his precious food. It worked - Castle choked on the bite he'd just taken. What exactly had Beckett told their coworkers? "She's having your baby, of course she's going to be a part of the family"

"Yeah and look at Alexis. All her life her mother has been Meredith, or for a while, Gina." said Ryan with a shudder at the thought of having either Meredith or Gina as a mother. "Now she knows that Beckett's going to be a part of the family and that she's going to stay. I can't blame her for wanting Beckett as a mother figure." Castle took another forkful of Espo's precious food as he contemplated what Ryan was saying. "And I'm betting that Alexis wants to get to know her before the baby comes and changes things. She probably wants to know what it feels like to have a real mother, before she has to share her with a baby."

"Wow, who knew that you knew so much about what goes on inside teenage girls' heads. cracked Esposito, but Castle remained silent as he thought over what Ryan had said; it made sense.

A few months passed and every day Kate would stare at herself in the mirror when she got up, trailing her hand over her swollen belly. If Rick was there he would get up and stand behind her, copying her motion. When Kate needed to buy her first set of maternity clothes she found herself with not just Lanie for company, but Alexis and Martha as well. They made a big to-do of the event, running around the shop and searching for the perfect clothes as though they were searching for her prom dress.

For every doctor's appointment, Rick came with while Alexis hid in the waiting room. During every case, Castle made her stay behind as much as he could – the less she was in the field the better for both her and the baby. As a family, they finished the nursery when Kate was 31 weeks; they had decided to go with painting the room a light purple. Alexis hadn't agreed with the soon-to-be parents, and had wanted to paint it pink. When they told her no, she figured that the best way to change their minds was to sneak into the room and paint part of the wall pink, so they could see what it would look like. Her plan backfired, however, when Kate walked into the room the next morning, looked at the wall, then at Alexis, and back to the wall again before simply stating "no." and handing Alexis a can of white paint, telling her to cover it up. Rick surprised her that evening by coming home with a state of the art baby monitoring system, one that probably cost obscene amounts of money, but guaranteed that they would be able to keep an eye on their daughter at all times. The last thing they bought for the room was the rocking chair, they had searched for weeks to find the perfect one for Kate to nurse the baby. Kate looked around the bright room as Rick put the chair in place, sighing contentedly at the nursery – it was perfect, it was time for her to move in.

They sat Martha and Alexis down for dinner the same day that they put the final touches in the baby's room.

"We'd like to have a family discussion." started Kate, looking at the two new women in her life, praying that they were ready for this step.

"Yes, Kate should move in." replied Martha, before standing up to clear her plate to the kitchen.

"Wha – what?" stuttered Kate, flabbergasted at Martha's words.

"Come on, Kate, Dad. Of course you were planning on moving in. I knew the second that you started looking at paint colors for the nursery." giggled Alexis. "For a while I was wondering if we were all going to have to move somewhere else because I knew that Dad wasn't going to _not_ live with you and his baby, and Grams and I aren't going to live without him."

"Alexis, sometimes you are too smart for your own good. Now, go help your grandmother with the dishes, I doubt she's even begun." said Rick, and Alexis caught the hint that they needed some privacy.

"Well, they didn't say no." murmured Kate, still surprised by the turn of events.

"Of course they didn't say no. They love you! And I do too." replied Rick. He pushed back his chair and stood, reaching out a hand to help his partner up. He pulled her flush against them, as close as they could get with the baby in between them. "I love you."

She could feel his whisper against her neck and loved that even after all this time, the ghost of his breath against her skin excited her. "I love you, too." She whispered back.

"Why don't we go get a box of your stuff to bring round here?"murmured Rick, his mouth still pressed up against her neck. He bit her skin gently, causing her to gasp. "That way, tonight we can celebrate that you've officially moved in."

"Okay, but Rick, we don't need an excuse to 'celebrate'." responded Kate in a sultry voice. She stepped away from him, laughing at the frustration she saw on his face by her actions. "Let's go, then."

As soon as the two of them had left the apartment, Alexis turned to hurry her grandmother.

"Grams, work faster! Come on, we have to be out of here by the time they get back, okay?"

"Darling, why must we leave? I have a lot of work to do at the school tomorrow and I'd like to get some sleep." complained the older woman, taking her time with loading the dishes in the dishwasher.

"Because! Dad and Kate are officially moving in together. Do you really want to be around for their first night?" Seeing the horror on Grams' face, Alexis laughed. "I'll go book us a room at a hotel. You can get your rest there."

When Rick and Kate returned, with the previously agreed upon one box of possessions – the others could wait for one night – they found the loft empty. Both of them knew that it was Alexis' doing and Rick sent her a text thanking her. He placed his phone on the counter, Kate's as well; he wanted no distractions for the night.

"Mmmm, that feels good." moaned Kate when he stepped up behind her and started placing kisses on the side of her neck, occasionally nipping it gently before soothing it with his tongue.

"Welcome home." he said, leading her through the softly lit loft and into the room that they now shared.

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_Please review!_


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